University Theatre: Post-Performance Analysis of Daisy Play THE2100

This report provides a post-performance analysis of the play 'Daisy,' focusing on its staging techniques and impact on the audience. The play, written by Sean Devin and directed by Eric Coates, explores political propaganda and its influence on society, drawing from the infamous 1964 Daisy ad. The analysis highlights the play's effective use of sound design, including prerecorded clips, silence, and the incorporation of speeches and interviews. The report examines how these elements, along with the play's themes of political manipulation and the power of media, create a compelling and thought-provoking experience. References to the assignment brief's requirements, such as analyzing specific production elements and their impact, are evident throughout the report, which also contextualizes the play within its historical and political setting.

Running head: POST-PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF DAISY
Post-Performance Analysis of Daisy
Student’s name
University
Author’s note

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POST-PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF DAISY
Theatre is a medium of conveying a poignant message. However, it essentially differs
from text by virtue of being an audio-visual media. To elucidate, instead of just telling a story, it
is brought to life by several supporting elements. Commonly known as staging, such elements,
including cast, props, sets, lights, sound effects, music, costumes etc. help the audience
accurately visualize the vision of the playwright, thus living through the moments depicted on
the stage. The audio-visual aids further enhances the effect of the performance, creating the
much necessary spectacle to have a hard-hitting impact on the audience. Moreover, the accuracy
of such staging also helps the play become believable and relatable.
This element of reliability is appropriate to great extent in the context of Daisy. The much
talked about Canadian play, written by Sean Devin and directed by Eric Coates, a coproduction
by the Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Theatre and GCTC, created quite a buzz since its
premiere. Enveloped by powerful political nuances, the play revolves around the deliberation of
political propaganda, fuelled by the much criticized L B Johnson’s presidential campaign ad, and
its impact on the mass psyche of the contemporary American society. The commercial, aired
back in 1964, has a deep-rooted impact on how we deal with negative advertisement and political
manipulation till date. Considering the disturbing afterlife of the infamous commercial, Daisy is
nevertheless an important narration in today’s time (HHGTheatre.ca, 2016)
The play, based on the real events and characters of contemporary television and
advertisement world, that depicts the ongoing as well as aftereffects of the infamous political
campaign, presents a strong take on political manipulation. It takes place on 1964 America, in
the heart of the posh advertisement world of Madison Avenue, where a group of enigmatic ‘Ad
Men’ take the responsibility of persuading the electors in favour of President Johnson. With
brutal racial conflicts erupting across the nation, wounded by both past and imminent wars,

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America was struggling to cope up and find peace. In such a timeframe, evoking the horror of
war once again, or manipulating the public holding peace at stake, is nevertheless a bold move.
This changed the course of the media history forever, as the issue of presidential election has not
been commercially promoted, neither did an advertisement incited a negative perspective to ‘sell
the product’. The play is also a brilliant effort, kudos to Devin’s intelligent and insightful script,
to reflect on present issues in the light of the past events. Encore Art Seattle most appropriately
reviews “What makes the play wonderful isn’t its big themes and its digging for the root causes
of political evil...but its more modest accomplishments as an embodiment of rational, civil
discourse and technologically driven psychological manipulation. We want both. ..Isn’t that the
power of art?” (Encoremediagroup.com, 2016)
Although Daisy could be attributed as a masterpiece by virtue of its message, or the
thoroughly researched narration, the mastery of the production lies in its staging techniques. The
playwright Devin himself dedicated the work to the mastermind behind the Daisy ad, Tony
Schwartz, the famous sound man of Madison Avenue. Therefore, it is only fitting that the play
uses the spectacle of sound and silence to enhance the theatrical effect of the hard-hitting reality
of the link between politics and media in influencing common mass. Schwartz, the eccentric
sound engineer, revolutionized the art and science of communication. He was obsessed with
human responses to ambient noises, and when entrusted with the sound design of the Daisy ad,
presented the production team with his theory of ‘subjective sound’, emphasizing the context of
hearing sound and thus manipulating the interpretation of sound. By the same logic, the Daisy ad
utilized the hypnotic sound of counting forward by a little blond girl, suddenly reversed and
culminated to a nuclear explosion in a dreadful male voice. It came as a shock, inciting horror

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and shaking of any complacency that might grip the electors, persuading them to participate in
the presidential elections (Sherin, 2016)
The play almost has the same spectacular effect while using prerecorded sound clips and
employing silence in chosen moments. Numerous clips of political speeches, interviews,
commercials, radio broadcast and voice-overs of news clips were incorporated to the body of the
play to provide the real time effect was required to make it relatable and believable. To be more
precise, the sound elements transcended the status of usual staging material, and became almost a
distinct character of the play. It has its own presence and weightage, framing the context and
shaping the impact of the events portrayed on stage. In Act I scene 8, as Clifford Lewis listens to
“The Great Society Speech” by President Johnson, it sets the mood for the whole play,
establishing the invisible character of the President and making his influence prominent on the
entire course of events. On the other hand, in Act II scene 1, the characters together watch the
footage of Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s speech at the 1964 Republican National Convention.
This sets the tone of the political perception, giving a glimpse of the contemporary political view
to the audience. Further, in Act II scene 4, actual footage of the filming of the Daisy ad plays,
contextualizing the agenda and reminding the audience what is it all about. Moreover, the entire
play uses footage from Tony Schwartz’s speeches and interviews on several issues, especially his
views on sound effect to play with the audiences’ psych within the monologues of the character
playing Schwartz himself. This gives an authenticity and depth to the Sound Man’s character,
establishing him as larger than life. However, silence also plays an instrumental role in the play.
One moment that stands out among all is when Louise Brown, the protagonist, internalizes the
news of military mobilization in the Gulf of Tonkin incident, as conflicted by her made-believe

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justification of the Daisy ad till then. By and large, Daisy is appeals not only to the senses, but
also to the rational faculty of the audience, urging them to think and reflect.

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References
Encoremediagroup.com (2016). Sean Devin’s Daisy creates a phenomenal impact as a new genre
of story-telling. from https://encoremediagroup.com/ [Accessed 13 March 2020].
HHG Theatre. (2016). Daisy (Ottawa). Retrieved 13 March 2020, from
http://horseshoesandhandgrenades.ca/past-projects/daisy-ottawa/
Sherin, J., 2016. ‘Daisy’: The Campaign Ad That Dropped A Bomb On American Politics.
[online] JUSTIN SHERIN. Available at:
<https://www.americantheatre.org/2016/07/11/daisy-the-campaign-ad-that-dropped-a-
bomb-on-american-politics/> [Accessed 13 March 2020].